Register of Beneficial Ownership (rbo)

RBO is the latest governance acronym and a new statutory responsibility for all companies, including those in the arts sector.

Companies, including CLGs and registered charities, now have a statutory obligation to file the company’s beneficial owners with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO). The deadline to file is Friday, 22 November 2019.

This new legal requirement is part of Ireland’s implementation of the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AML4D). While directors of CLGs, a company structure common in our sector, are not shareholders or owners, they do meet other criteria for registration including exercising control: direct or indirect control or ownership of voting rights or ownership interest or through control via other means. So arts organisations that are CLGs and/or registered charities are not exempt from completing an RBO filing.

Many auditors have offered to do this registration for their clients for a fee. Other organisations are compiling this information from their directors and undertaking their own registration. The information to be supplied about the directors is similar to B10 information given to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) when appointing or changing the directors or company secretary. Note that Personal Public Service (PPS) Numbers must be supplied.

• Company / Society Name
• Company / Society Number
• Surname
• Forename(s)
• Date of Birth
• PPS Number
• Nationality
• Country of Residence
• Statement of the nature & extent of interest held
• Statement of the nature & extent of control exercised
• Residential Address
• Eircode (optional)
• Date of entry as beneficial owner
• Date of cessation as beneficial owner.

There’s useful information and guidance on https://rbo.gov.ie/ Do give yourself time to complete registration before the deadline in case of technical problems. Remember that from 2020 this registration is an annual statutory one.